


One's For Sorrow

by All_The_Monsters



Series: Gleb x Anya One-shots [3]
Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I need sleep, Magpies, Nursery Rhyme References, Superstition, kinda sad, really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 13:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16598669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_The_Monsters/pseuds/All_The_Monsters
Summary: Just some Gleb x Anya for you guys inspired by the nursery rhyme "One's For Sorrow" and the superstition of counting magpies."One's for sorrow,Two's for joy,Three's for a girl,Four's for a boy,"





	One's For Sorrow

_One for sorrow,_

The ruffle of wings flying overhead alerted the young woman form her brooding, and looking up Anastasia could see a magpie flying over head, startled from the trees. 

_Two for joy,_

A second magpie joined the first as a boy around her own age emerged from the foliage of the forest on the other side of the high wrought iron fence. 

_Three's for a girl,_

A smile spread across Anastasia's face as she placed her book aside and looked around quickly before making her way to the surrounding fence, another magpie joining the other's at her sudden movement. 

_Four's for a boy,_

"Anushka," the young man whispered as he neared the high fence. 

"Gleb, what are you doing here you could get in trouble." Anastasia words were an understatement, if they were found like this he'd surely be shot. 

"I had to see you. There's something in the air, can you feel it." At Gleb's words a fourth magpie flew into the sky. 

"What do you mean?" Anastasia asked as she ran a hand over the shoulder of Gleb's uniform, brushing the wrinkles away. 

"There's talk of something tonight, I don't know what, but it's not good. I can feel it." Gleb's usually calm voice was laced with panic, causing Anastasia to suck in a short breath of air. 

_Five's for silver,_

Gleb stared into Anastasia's eyes, the sunlight hitting the blue irises and bouncing off them the way sunlight glared silver on the Neva in the summer. 

The call of a fifth magpie rang out around them.

_Six is for gold,_

Anastasia looked over as Gleb's hand clasped over her own grasping the cold iron bars. Looking back into his eyes she could see little gold flecks in the dark earth coloured rings, like a hidden treasure buried in the dark forest soil. 

The sharp tuttering of a sixth magpie answered the fifth's call.

_Seven's for a secret never told,_

"I love you." Gleb's voice tore Anastasia from her trance. 

"I love you too." She whispered, her voice shaky as she realized Gleb was right, there was something on the breeze and her gut clenched and the stark figure of a magpie landed in the tree above them.

_Eight's for a wish,_

"I wish it were different." Gleb stroked her cheek. 

"I know." Anastasia leaned into his embrace, "I do too. If I weren't disposed royalty..." 

"And were I not a soldier's son destined for the same path as my father," Gleb finished. "We cannot change who we are, Anushka. I wouldn't change who you were for the world." 

"Nor would I change you." Anastasia's eyes were shining now with unshed tears as the magpie in the tree above swooped off into the distance. 

_Nine's for a kiss,_

Leaning down between the bars Gleb pressed a kiss to Anastasia's lips, which she gladly returned, the couple holding onto one another as best they could through the iron fence while a ninth magpie flew overhead.  

_Ten for a bird you must not miss._

That night gunfire rang through Yekaterinburg as Gleb rushed out of bed and to the window in disbelief. Looking across the road at the house the noises came from Gleb found that screams soon joined the cacophony of gun shots in the night. Frozen on spot Gleb tried desperately to make his body do something, anything, but his limbs would not obey. 

All to soon the sounds ended and the cold air was once again filled with silence and Gleb didn't know what was worse, the gunfire or the silence that followed. 

His legs gave out from under him and Gleb sank to the ground by the window, shaking and choking back sobs. Anushka, she was surely dead. 

There was the sound of a shrill bird's call and looking up Gleb met the beady black emotionless eyes of a magpie that had landed on his windowsill, reminding him of the superstitions his grandmother often believed in, such as the fortune tellings of magpies. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please any comments, concerns, and or interpretive dances in the comments section below!


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